There is so much to say on this subject, I hesitate to enter it, and yet we already have. This is the spiritual rabbit hole we have entered. This is where we have been going this whole time. The subject of evil and perfection, for this is the White Path, the battle we face, the turmoil set within us because we still live in a body of death, and the peril to our soul, and others, is very real.
If nothing else, I can promise this subject will not be boring, it is very relevant, and can speed your progress in the Kingdom immensely. You are under attack. In this life of peace, I find there is a fight. I desire a life of peace, but I find there is a fight. The Children of Israel entered the Promised Land, and they found there was a fight, even with giants!
“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24)
We know the answer is given in the very next verse, but in this rabbit hole we have plunged, I want to break things down and spend some time considering this world we live in, a reality I have been using “Infinity War” (Eternal War) to illustrate, and would like to continue doing so. The enemy is always working on two fronts, the in your face attack and the deceptive/ camouflaged attack.
So many born-again children of God wondering in the wilderness, not enjoying the Promised Land because they have failed to simply trust God, go forward in faith, and fight your spiritual enemies. Yes, there are giants in the Promised land, it seems. And yes we are grasshoppers compared to them, but they are the grasshoppers in God’s hand. God wants you to believe that. It’s his power, not yours.
In a world that is cursed there is always a fight in the garden. Not only the “mess”, the wilderness, the weeds that have to be cleared away to have a garden to begin with, but also the weeds and wilderness constantly fighting to come back. It never completely goes away. There are standards to maintain around and within our garden. Walls that fortify and build up. In this we have not been left without powerful weapons, for we are a warrior Kingdom. Light verses darkness. Love verses evil. It’s a fight without and within that never goes away.
For the Christian, the warrior’s path is not at all as the world. Not surprised, right? But what is this path? How does it work? What is our Kingdom fighting style?
Realize that our God, in many ways, is a paradox, for he is not bound by physical laws, only spiritual. He lives and reigns in the spiritual, and constantly teaches us to do the same. But are we teachable? The first wilderness generation come out of Egypt, was not.
Here’s a paradox for you. Our warrior path with God begins with brokenness and surrender. How’s that for a battle plan? Break and surrender? Unless a seed fall to the ground and die, it abides alone. Loving God with all your heart leads to brokenness and surrender, and also a “Vengeance Trail”! (Yes, this will tie to the name of “The Avengers”. The analogy continues. But this is no joke, it is real. As real as this rabbit hole can be.)
Remember, we are in the rabbit hole with God. You’re going to have to hang with me on this one, but the Apostle Paul describes this path of spiritual vengeance. Always remember who our enemy really is. The Bible says we should turn the other cheek when our enemy strikes us, but don’t take that too far, because we are never to turn the other cheek to our true enemy, Satan! (And his principalities.) Our war is with spiritual principalities in heavenly places, not with any human here on earth, and to this enemy we do not give an inch! We are not commanded to love Satan, but to RESIST him! If God put the fight in you, it’s for this purpose!
Oh, there is so much to get into here, but must be explored one thought at a time. Satan will never try to convince you he is your friend. He’s really smarter and more devious than that. What he does is try to convince us that God is our enemy! We are in a lose lose situation. That we have failed God one too many times, and now God has turned on us too. Remember this truth as we continue our warfare journey. When Jesus was born the message was announced, peace and goodwill towards man! Salvation is your peace treaty with God! He is no longer your enemy. (Thank the Lord!)
God has encased us in Christ even better than Tony Stark is encased in Ironman. Our analogy continues. We will be speaking much about the “Armor of Light”, as mentioned in our foundation scriptures of Romans 13:8-14. Six Living Verses to battle the Seven Deadly Sins. But take note, in Ephesians 6: 10-20, the very first piece of armor mentioned is to gird up our loins with truth! And who is our enemy but the master liar? The words to “gird up” means to make yourself ready for a coming dangerous situation! The truth is we do live in a dangerous world, both physically and spiritually.
Oh the word count is adding up much too quickly. Okay, what is this Vengeance Trail? I can’t go into it in great detail, but the scriptures really speak for themselves. Apostle Paul describes a staircase leading to a higher spiritual level. Notice the order of the steps. Where the steps start and where they end! (From a brokenness to a victory!)
“For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!” (II Cor. 7:11)
Also consider II Cor. 10:6 > “And having in a readiness/ (make yourself ready? Gird up?)/ to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”
There is a Vengeance Trail for the warrior Kingdom of God, a warrior priesthood, but always remember who your striking against, (not your neighbor!), but an enemy not seen or touched by physical things.
Remember this, “perfection” is our Promised Land in Christ. Do not let the enemy scare you out of it. It is what God has promised us, and where he is taking us. How much we experience of that before heaven, is unknown, but until then, our Father, which art in heaven, has encased us in Christ! We have this spiritual armor able to quench every fiery arrow of the enemy, and that starts with the truth of every promise God has made us in his word!
I was given a list once that the “7 Deadly Sins” are these> Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Slothfulness, Wrath, Pride, and last but not least> Lust.
Jesus washed the Disciples feet. We walk in a filthy sin cursed world. This body of death still desires pleasures beyond what is good for us, or anyone around us. Satan assaults us with fleshly desires on a daily basis. God put boots on our feet that say we have “Peace with God”! He is no longer our enemy! But there is one who is, and he likes to paint pretty pictures of addicting pleasures ready to entangle our soul. We have much more to speak on these things. I want to remind us of how valuable our Armor of Light is, because too many are lost in the wilderness, unprotected, chasing a devil’s mirage, desiring false hopes and food that will never satisfy. A Promised Land awaits them, if they will simply believe God and cross that Jordan River, symbolic of a death.
Let us be an avenger of all the wrongs we have done, when we lacked obedience. May your past sins be used as motivation to prove you’re not that person anymore. Not everything that sparkles is a diamond or gold. Thanos is ate up with lust for power. He will pay any price to gain it. This is the enemy. He thinks he knows what’s best. He uses that to justify his evil actions. Let us not make the same mistake. (To be continued.)
Path Without End 